fish

the best tuna meatballs (le migliori polpette di tonno)

servings
4

method

Just about everyone I know is a fan of meatballs, so I thought I’d give you a recipe for these as they are something a little different. I’ve seen them made in Sicily in the same way, using a mixture of swordfish and tuna – not jarred or tinned tuna though. These have to be made with fresh fish and they are subtly seasoned with Sicilian herbs and spices – this recipe is just as good as the meat versions!

First make your sauce. Place a large pan on the heat, add a good glug of olive oil, your onion and garlic and fry slowly for 10 or so minutes until soft. Add your oregano, the tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, then liquidize until smooth. Taste – it might need a tiny swig of red wine vinegar or some extra seasoning.

While the tomatoes are simmering, chop the tuna up into 2.5cm/1 inch dice. Pour a good couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a large frying pan and place on the heat. Add the tuna to the pan with the pinenuts and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fry for a minute or so to cook the tuna on all sides and toast the pinenuts. Remove from the heat and put the mixture into a bowl. Allow to cool down for 5 minutes, then add the oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs, lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Using your hands, really scrunch and mix the flavors into the tuna, then divide the mixture and squeeze it into meatballs slightly smaller than a golf ball. If you dip one of your hands in water while shaping you’ll get a nice smooth surface on the meatball. If the mixture’s very sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs. Keep the meatballs around the same size and place them on an oiled tray, then put them in the fridge for an hour to let them rest.

Put the pan you fried the tuna in back on the heat with a little olive oil. Add your meatballs to the pan and jiggle them about until they’re golden brown all over. You might want to do them in batches – when they’re done, add them to the tomato sauce, divide between your plates, sprinkle with chopped parsley and drizzle with good olive oil. Great served with spaghetti or linguine.

• from Jamie's Italy

ingredients

for the tomato sauce
olive oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• red wine vinegar
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped

for the meatballs
• 400g/14oz sustainably sourced tuna
• olive oil
• 55g/2oz pinenuts
• 1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 100g/3½oz stale breadcrumbs
• 55g/2oz freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 eggs
• zest and juice of 1 lemon

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1. by Britta on Mon 19 Sep 2011 @ 02:07

Fantastic way to eat tuna. Tastes SOOO good and fresh. We used almond Meal instead of bread crumps and I'm sure it didn't make them worse;-) Well worth the time needed to prepare for them. And then again; Jamie Oliver's recipes are ALWAYS a hit in our household!

2. by Sarah on Tue 06 Sep 2011 @ 17:42

Meatballs gorg.my kids n husband luv them.thank you

3. by Salim on Thu 02 Jun 2011 @ 13:44

Jamie , man, i looove you and i keep watching all your series with my sister and mother specially your great escape :D... keep doing what you are doing and we are always here to support .... JUST BELIEVE... <3<3<3

4. by Naisan on Thu 02 Jun 2011 @ 12:21

I know its heresey and I wish I could use fresh, But could you use tinned tuna? I'm on a budget at the moment and these sound good.

5. by Janey on Thu 02 Jun 2011 @ 12:14

Sounds gorgeous, can't wait to try it !!! I've never yet had a bad Jamie recipie, just love em.

6. by Rachel on Thu 02 Jun 2011 @ 11:15

This might be a dumb question but, what kind of tuna do you use? Albacore? Yellow Fin? Sushi Grade? <br /> <br /> This sounds great. I can't wait to make this recipe.

7. by Kata on Tue 29 Mar 2011 @ 20:56

This was an excellent dish, I love the way Jamie uses spices in any dishes.<br /> The only difference was instead of frying the tuna, i put them into the dish to bake them till golden brown.

8. by Joan Pidgeon on Thu 04 Jun 2009 @ 21:28

Maybe I did something wrong - I didn't like them. Think I'll stick to my 'red meat' balls.

9. by Jay on Mon 02 Mar 2009 @ 19:19

Fantastic Recipe! I have just cooked it for my Fiancee and I and we both thoroughly enjoyed it! Delicious!!!!

10. by Manuel on Fri 02 Jan 2009 @ 21:21

Fantastic recipe I tried just today. Just a "but" for this recipe: I would chop the tuna up into smaller dice, about 0.5 cm, so that the meatballs get more compact when frying and don`t get broken.
Thanks for your fabulous recipes!

11. by Sally on Fri 12 Dec 2008 @ 06:20

My daughter is allergic to eggs . Any suggestions for what I can use instead of the eggs to bind the meatballs? TIA

12. by Pilar on Wed 19 Nov 2008 @ 16:22

I was really curious about "fish meatballs" and the taste it would get with cinnamon and pinenuts, so I tried it this week for dinner. It was awesome!!
It worked great with the tomato sauce, I put some sugar in it to avoid acid flavour, also a bay leave (mom's mediterranean tip). :) Around 30 beautiful tasty tuna meatballs came out and were devoured with a glass of white wine.

Thank you very much for this imaginative recipee.

13. by Vicky on Sun 16 Nov 2008 @ 19:18

Been making this one since Jamie's Italy came out - make it twice a month at least and it goes down really well for just the 2 of us or a nice dinner party... it sounds complicated but isn't really - and is well worth the time needed. I always 'accidentally' make a few extra and we have them cold in sandwiches with rocket and sundried tomato paste the next day - yum!

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